NCAA tournament expansion discussion

[shizzle787]

With college sports at key juncture, what does the future of the NCAA tournament and CFP look like?

The gap between the major conferences and all others has existed for decades, but now there are cracks forming within that top tier of conferences — and those cracks could lead to major changes for the college football and basketball postseasons.

sports.yahoo.com

"In a meeting in Washington D.C. on Jan. 25, commissioners of the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12 and, yes, even the Pac-12 opened dialogue with Baker about their wish to examine NCAA tournament expansion."

"However, discussions between the commissioners and NCAA go beyond the topic of revenue and also include the growing wish for more access in the form of at-large spots. In the meeting with Baker, commissioners were transparent about their desire for more access in a 68-team field that includes 32 automatic qualifying spots — 27 of which go to non-power leagues."

Let me begin by saying I am against NCAA tournament expansion and wished the field went back to 64. Now let's get back to reality.

This is about money. The P4 want more bids to get more tournament credits. My guess is that after compromises the field will be expanded to 72. That will keep the integrity of the bracket alive while still allowing more P4 (and Big East) teams in the field.

If it goes to 72, I hope that four of the eight play-in games are between at-large teams so that there are good games to watch on Tuesday and Wednesday.

However, my bet is that the P4 will remove credits from play-in game wins and put the bottom sixteen conference winners into the First Eight for the 15 and 16 seeds.